


One Life for Each Other

by thegraytigress



Series: One Life [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bromance, F/M, Family, Fatherhood, Fluff, Romance, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:04:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6506140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegraytigress/pseuds/thegraytigress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that the darkness is finally gone and everyone is home safe, Steve reflects on what he has become and where he is.  He sees this good life he leads, this one life he shares with his daughter, his wife, and the people who have become his family.  The roads he took.  The choices he made.  And he waits for the new life that will change his world again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Life for Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> **DISCLAIMER:** _The Avengers_ is the property of Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Studios, and Marvel Studios. _Marvel's Agents of SHIELD_ is the property of ABC, Walt Disney Studios, and Marvel Studios. This work was created purely for enjoyment. No money was made, and no infringement was intended.
> 
>  **RATING:** T (for language, violence)
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This is the epilogue to _One Life_. I highly recommend you read the series first. Otherwise, it won't make much sense. It's also the fluffiest thing I have ever written. Please enjoy, everyone!

Stark Tower was quiet.  It was early Sunday morning, and most of its inhabitants were soundly sleeping.  Most of them.

Steve woke up to the sun streaming through the blinds of their bedroom and the smell of Natasha’s hair.  She was curled up against him, spooned to his body, and peacefully slumbering.  His arm was tucked around her, and he splayed his fingers on her belly and gently tugged her closer, burying his face again into the back of her neck.  He drifted in that place between wakefulness and sleep a little while longer, luxuriating in contentedness, lazing and dreaming.  Then the sound of soft voices gently pierced the quiet in his mind and all around, and he opened his eyes again.  Pressing a kiss to the crown of Natasha’s head, he gently untangled himself from her and slipped silently from their bed.  He spent a second gazing down at her appreciatively before tucking the expensive duvet back around her and padding to the door.

He wandered sleepily through their suite, tracking the voices he’d heard.  One of them was definitely Sarah’s.  As he passed her room, through her cracked bedroom door he spotted her sitting against her bed, dressed still in her pink pajamas.  Bucky was cross-legged on the floor beside her, Belle laying around them both almost protectively, the dog sleepily watching them.  Bucky had a picture book open on his lap.  His hair was mussed from sleep, and he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days in the amount of stubble on his chin was any indication.  His tone was light and sweet, though, as he read to her, and she excitedly pointed to the little cardboard pop-ups as he turned the pages.  It was the same book she’d insisted be read to her every night that week, the book about princesses.  All too appropriate considering where they were going later that day.  Steve watched his friend and his daughter, Bucky’s low voice lulling with its familiar Brooklyn accent, Sarah’s eyes bright with so much excitement despite how early it was (Steve wondered if she’d slept at all last night.  Probably not).  When she started babbling about all the princesses she was going to meet, Bucky just smiled that smile he had nowadays and lifted Sarah into his lap, kissing her head and brushing her hair back.  Sarah grabbed his metal arm, pulling it around her belly as she turned to look up at him.  She was five now, a sweet, energetic, precocious five, and she was the light of Bucky’s life.  “Huh, Uncle Buck?  It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Yeah,” Bucky rumbled.  “You and Mommy and Daddy’ll have a blast, sweet pea.”

Sarah frowned.  “Who’s gonna take care of Belle, though?”

Belle immediately picked up her head and started wagging her tail, excited at the mere mention of her name.  Bucky smiled softly, reaching with his other hand to run it through the dog’s soft fur.  “Don’t worry.  She’ll be alright with me.  Won’t ya, girl?”  Belle licked his hand, and Sarah reached over to pet her, too.  “Tell me more about which princess is your favorite.”

“I like them all,” Sarah said, returning to the book.  “But I like ballerinas, too.”

“I know,” Bucky said, glancing around Sarah’s expansive room, at all the pink and purple and filled with fantasy.  In recent months, the girlishness had multiplied almost dramatically, ballerina slippers and tutus and dancing girls in pictures adding to the princess-themed décor.  Steve had to silently laugh at his friend’s wince.  _So much pink._

“And I like the heroes, too.”

“Yeah?  Like Daddy?”

Sarah nodded enthusiastically.  “And Mommy.  Ballerinas can be heroes.”

Steve watched a moment more, heart swelling as Sarah went on and on about heroes and ballerinas and how much she wanted to be like Natasha, before heading out of his suite and down the quiet hallways.  He stopped at the elevator, pressing the button to summon the lift to take him down a floor to the communal kitchen.  The light in the corridor shone his wedding ring as he did, and it still took him aback sometimes when that happened, _everything_ that had happened.  It had been more than a year since they’d defeated Viper and the rest of HYDRA, enough time in fact for it all to seem like a distant bad memory.  Since then, a great deal had changed.  The images of the Avengers, of Captain America in particular, standing against the Red Skull and his monster had proliferated like wildfire.  The world had seen HYDRA for what it had really been (though it had been rather difficult to do anything else, what with the giant, terribly symbolic tentacle demon wading through New York Harbor).  The damage HYDRA had done with its campaign of doubts, falsehoods, and misinformation had been undone pretty quickly.  Humanity’s faith in the Avengers had been restored, and with concerted effort, the governments of the world worked to expunge the remains of HYDRA’s influence.  Inspired by Steve’s speech to take a stand, corruption was ferreted out, both in the political institutions and in the media.  It was a long, painstaking process.  HYDRA had its claws in deep, and even though its militant arms and heads were gone, its influence wasn’t.  That would take much longer.

Fury and his people were working at it.  They had rebuilt SHIELD in the space of a year, setting up shop in upstate New York.  Coulson and his team were at the head of it now, legends among the new recruits and older agents alike.  They were all dutifully providing the infrastructure for the Avengers: Fitz and Simmons working together on new technologies and inventions to aid in the fight, Skye heading up the new SHIELD’s communications and computer networks (with Tony’s help – she was endlessly fangirling about that), Ward, May, and Sharon out in the field, running ops and training new agents to help ensure peace and justice in the world from here on.  Steve and the rest of the team routinely interacted with them.  Sharon was their liaison, in fact, the team’s handler.  He hadn’t made the connection at the time (although, to be fair, he’d been rather busy with trying to save the world) but he’d realized quickly in the aftermath of it all that Sharon was Peggy’s niece.  Her _great-_ niece, in fact.  The familiar aura she always exuded had suddenly made sense.  Sharon was truly an amazing woman, strong and capable, and as the Avengers coordinated more and more with her and SHIELD, Steve found she reminded him greatly of Peggy.  The same no-nonsense approach to work.  The same dry, clever wit.  The same penchant for logistics, for knowing what needed to be done without distraction.  He was glad to count her among his good friends now, both because she was a tremendous asset and because being close to her was, in a sense, like being close to a part of Peggy.  He was glad for _all_ of them.  Ward and Skye seemed to be getting closer, as were Fitz and Simmons, and once Steve had even seen May smile (which was a rare treat, according to Coulson).  And Coulson himself was working closely alongside Hill and Fury.  He was Fury’s right hand man, so to speak, actively overseeing the entirety of SHIELD’s operations.  Steve had never seen someone so happy but trying to hide it.  Fury himself was as stoic and emotionless as ever, eyes on the long game, not relaxing for a second despite this period of relative peace and stability.  The world would always need people to protect it, he kept pointing out, so there was no sense in getting comfortable or complacent.

Strangely, Steve was okay with that.  He was okay with the fact that the life he was making for himself and his daughter was _never_ going to be easy.  That fear with which he’d lived for so long, that he couldn’t be both Captain America and a good father…  He was quickly finding he could.  It wasn’t this war it had once been inside him, this irrational idea that he needed to hide one part of who he was from the other, that they couldn’t co-exist.  Sure, it wasn’t always easy.  Even with HYDRA gone and everything rebuilt, the world still had plenty of enemies.  Rogue HYDRA cells and AIM terrorists and evil regimes with grand aspirations.  The world would always need the Avengers.  There’d always be another battle to fight or villain to stop.  But that didn’t matter.  He could handle it.  He wasn’t alone.  He knew that now like he’d known it before, when Sarah had come into his life and the team had accepted her as a part of him.  He knew that now like he knew he loved her, loved Natasha, loved his friends and family.  He wasn’t alone.

He could face anything like that.

So he was leading the team again.  There _was_ a team again.  As the city had recovered from the attack, restoring and rebuilding Liberty Island and the buildings that had been damaged, the Avengers had reformed.  They, too, had rebuilt and restored themselves from those dark days where they’d failed and fractured and lost each other.  It was a physical thing, repairing the Tower from the astronomical amount of damage it had taken during HYDRA’s assault.  The second Tony had recovered from his injuries enough to function, he’d been designing from his hospital bed, Pepper using his innumerable StarkPads to help him since he couldn’t use his hands and JARVIS more than eager to be his aide.  He’d nearly died, but he’d come out of the situation stronger and surer and more energized than Steve had ever seen.  There had been lasting injuries to his hands, the sort that wouldn’t ever heal entirely, but even that hadn’t dampened his spirits.  He’d wanted to build it all again, bigger and better.  And he’d been laughing, loving, coming home from the hospital to his wife and to his family with fire in his eyes and determination in his heart.  He’d led the reconstruction, first from a wheelchair and then from crutches and finally amidst it all, deep in doing what he loved.

The others had come home, too.  After so many months in hiding, Bruce had been afraid at first to show his face.  However, images quickly circulated of the Hulk carrying Clint to safety, battling the massive beast in the harbor, rescuing civilians from damaged buildings and protecting the innocent from HYDRA’s airstrikes from above.  Given that, he’d been rather resoundingly exonerated by the people of the world for what had happened during the Avengers’ earlier ill-fated attempts to contend with HYDRA.  The public outcry of support had effectively silenced any remaining HYDRA operatives in the media and government (and plain old detractors, for that matter).  He’d moved back to the Tower as a hero.  And Thor had delivered the Harbinger back to his father’s vault.  The whole event had left him a tad unsettled, but he was quick to overcome that and rejoice with the rest of Midgard that HYDRA was gone.  He’d been a tremendous asset to the city during the cleanup efforts, lifting wreckage and removing rubble.  With Jane at his side, he, too, had returned home, to their suite.

Clint had as well, though he’d been the last.  It had been a definite close call, and he’d been slow to recover from the gunshot wounds he’d sustained during the battle.  With the last of the GH.325 used on Natasha, there’d been no choice but to wait and hope, for him and Tony both.  It had been excruciating for them all, days filled with fear and impatient faith warring with miserable doubt.  But the archer had pulled through.  Much later, after he’d woken from a rather lengthy stint of unconsciousness, he revealed to Steve that he’d been luckier in more ways than one.  Back then, during the battle at the Tower where HYDRA had nearly razed the building to the ground, the Winter Soldier could have killed him but hadn’t.  Viper’s men had overwhelmed him when he’d stayed behind to give the others a chance to escape.  Bucky had stood over Clint’s helpless body with his gun at the ready.  He’d never taken the shot.  He’d run, spared Clint’s life.  That didn’t help with the fact that Clint had very nearly died, though.  Even more than Tony, he’d languished for days, nearly weeks, before regaining awareness.  And, even more than Tony, his recovery had been difficult and painstaking.  But he’d fought through it.  Clint was nothing if not stubborn.

And so was Bucky.  Steve had always known that, even when they’d been boys running around Brooklyn, pretending to be soldiers and facing down the bullies together.  Repairing the physical damage they’d all sustained had been one thing.  The damage Bucky had endured, however, went far deeper, into his mind and soul.  Much like Clint and Tony’s convalescence, Bucky freeing himself from HYDRA’s control was long, drawn-out, and strenuous.  Even with HYDRA gone, with Viper dead and Bucky free from his servitude, seventy years of torture and brainwashing was hard to simply undo.  With his memories returning, so, too, came his conscience.  All the horrors and atrocities he’d been forced to commit had attacked him in fits and spurts.  This, on top of the psychological scarring, had made for a few very difficult first months of freedom.  Steve had been with him every step of the war, talking him down when something triggered the Winter Soldier within him, holding him through nightmares, gently reminding him of their life together before Bucky had fallen in 1945.  Working with him as he tried to regain himself.  At times had it had seemed impossible, but Steve had refused to give up, battling Bucky’s demons right at his side.  And, just when it had seemed Bucky could never be free of this hellish misery, he’d escaped.

Sarah had become such an important part of that process.  Despite all the horrors she’d endured in her young life, she was remarkably hale and happy.  Every time Steve saw it, he was reminded of just how strong she was, how resilient children were.  She had her moments, of course, where she was difficult or irrationally frightened.  Those dark months on the run, long nights spent terrified, and all the danger she’d faced…  Like Bucky’s torment, it couldn’t be completely erased.  For weeks after the end of it all, she’d still slept in her father’s bed, tucked up against him.  But not anymore (well, not often.  There were still times where she crawled in with him or fell asleep in his bed, but these were more selfish on his part than anything else.  She was still his baby, in a sense, no matter how strong she was and grown-up she acted.  So he maybe should have moved her back to her bed but didn’t.  Oh well).  During the dark periods of their recovery, Sarah had been a ray of sunshine, overcoming her own anxieties, her fears, her nightmares and the trauma.  All the damage Steve thought he’d done to her because of who he was and what she’d been given from him…  It healed like it had never been there at all.  And that was such a symbol to Bucky most of all, of love and hope.  _Life._   She was represented their childhoods, the connection he used to have with Steve, Steve’s mother, _his mother,_ the simple, wonderful life he’d lost.  She was hope.  Just as Bucky had connected to her during the battle, he _stayed_ connected to her, letting that tentative bond slowly but surely bring him out of the hell in his head.  She wasn’t afraid of him (thank God), as if she knew on some level how much he needed her.  It was as if she realized how much he needed her innocent trust, how her simple affection taught him to love himself again, how much the simple words of “Uncle Bucky”, given without a bit of doubt in her heart, _meant_ to him.

It was everything, everything to Bucky and to Steve.

And Sarah hadn’t been the only one to be so forgiving.  Steve had been downright _shocked_ at how understanding the team had been.  Everyone had generally welcomed Bucky.  Even now, with Bucky improved and some talk about him joining the team beginning, the others had been guardedly interested.  Bucky would undoubtedly be an amazing asset, enhanced by his own version of the serum and as strong and skilled as Steve.  Of course, Bucky was reticent, extremely so, and everyone else was, too.  None of this had been easy.  What the Winter Soldier had done quickly became the proverbial elephant in the room, the ghost of it all adding a bit of tension to every conversation.  Most of the team at one point or another had expressed reluctance in embracing him, though never directly.  It wasn’t without logic, and Steve couldn’t blame them at all.  Bucky had wrought an unbelievable amount of damage.  Sparing his life or not, he’d left Clint to die.  He’d helped participate in Tony’s capture and torture.  He’d tried to kidnap Sarah and Steve himself.  He’d threatened everyone who’d been trapped in the Tower during the attack.  He’d shot Natasha on _two_ separate occasions, nearly taken her from them all.  And all of that was in addition to the countless assassinations and murders over seventy years.  Again, these wounds weren’t the sort that just healed.  To have him living with them, joining in with them, fighting alongside them…  It was difficult for everyone involved.  Yet the Avengers had tried to be understanding, surprisingly so, and Steve was infinitely grateful to them all.  

To his wife most of all.  _His wife._   As the elevator took him down a couple floors, he lost himself in his joy over that anew.  He still couldn’t quite believe how she’d been saved.  It had seemed like such a longshot at the time, that Bruce could arrive and work so quickly with Simmons to fix the TAHITI serum before Natasha died from her wounds.  But fix it they had.  Bruce had used the remainder of the blood Steve had donated during those long hours where Natasha had lain dying, and he’d combined the super soldier serum with the alien cells in GH.325 to ameliorate its devastating side effects.  Just as the assault had started, with Bruce called away during the last infusion of their new medicine, she had awoken from her coma.  Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, she’d been healed and ready to fight and protect a girl she loved like her own.  Maybe there’d been a lot of miracles during that final fight, Thor arriving when he had and Steve being able to find Tony and the team reforming to fight the Red Skull and Bucky emerging from his brainwashing…  A lot of miracles.  But _this_ had seemed to be the greatest of them all.  Natasha was alive and well, saved by the alien serum and Steve’s own.  And she was thriving.

They’d married in a small, sweet ceremony here at home.  Everyone had been there.  Their friends and family.  Coulson and his team.  SHIELD members, old and new.  Tony and Clint and Bucky.  Thor and Bruce.  Pepper and Jane.  Sarah, smiling like she’d never imagined she could be so happy.  Steve knew exactly how that felt, your heart swelling with love until you couldn’t breathe.  And Natasha gotten her wish.  She had a family now.  She’d married Captain America.  She was Captain America’s wife.

And she was a mother.

It still made him feel euphoric, even months later, like he was walking on cloud nine.  He always was nowadays.  He couldn’t have asked for a better ending to it all, for a better life than what he was living.

Although he had a feeling it could (and would) get even better.  In about four months, in fact.

He was practically beaming to himself as he strolled into the kitchen.  It was barely seven o’clock, so he wasn’t expecting anyone to be up.  Life as an Avenger, living with so many amazing and eccentric and unpredictable folks, should have taught him to be wiser by now.  “Oh, Lord,” he grumbled, shaking his head around an amused smile.  “Not you, too.”

“Morning, Cap!” Tony cheerily exclaimed.  He wasn’t just up.  He was freshly showered, dressed for warm weather (despite it being the middle of winter) in shorts and a garishly loud Hawaiian shirt, _and_ finishing up with getting breakfast ready.  He offered Steve a mug full of steaming coffee.  “Wake up on the wrong side of a pregnant wife?”

“Ha ha,” Steve said, coming to take the drink.  He sat at the breakfast bar, glancing around.  “Pepper still sleeping?”

“Nah.  She’s packing and getting Maria ready.  Pancakes?”  Tony set a plate before him with a steaming mound of pancakes in its center.

Steve eyed them suspiciously.  “Blueberry?”  There were definitely little blue spots in the batter.  Tony would only bring out his favorite if he had some ulterior motive.  It _always_ worked that way.  A lot had changed, but some things never would.  “Ugh.  What do you want?”

Tony blanched.  “Nothing!  Nothing at all.”  Steve gave him a withering, doubtful look.  He reached for the syrup, slathering it all over the mountain of pancakes.  Tony grinned, grabbing more breakfast stuffs from the counter.  There was a lot of it.  Bacon, sausage, and eggs.  Bagels and donuts.  Loads of pancakes and waffles.  Trays filled with exquisite fruit.  Carafes of coffee, fruit juice, and orange juice.  At least he wasn’t trying to hide the fact he’d ordered it all, unloading his feast from boxes as carts as Steve started to eat.  This was _still_ Tony’s version of cooking, paying other people to do it for him.  That was alright by Steve.  These last few months, he’d taken up the mantle he’d had before to some respects as the “stay at home dad” of the team.  His resuming cooking and baking had been to everyone’s delight, but this morning he was more than content to let someone else handle feeding the unrepentant bottomless pit that was the Avengers and their significant others.  Tony beamed, satisfied with his work, before coming over to settle on a stool at the breakfast bar beside Steve.  He had his own plate, loaded to the brim with things Steve knew Pepper didn’t like him eating.  “Excited?”

He couldn’t lie.  Ever since Tony had suggested they finally do this a few weeks ago, he had been.  Sarah had been off the walls, so thrilled that it was positively infectious.  Even without his daughter’s boundless exuberance, though, he still would have been pretty happy about it.  “Sure.”  He tried to seem cooler than he was.  “But only ’cause you guys are.”

“You’re a liar, Cap,” Tony replied.  He nudged Steve playfully, stuffing the rest of his donut in his mouth.  He chewed appreciatively for a bit.  “Seems like a long time coming.”

“Sure does.”

“Sarah’s really belated birthday present.  She figure out what she wants to do first?”

Steve sipped his coffee.  “Changes every five minutes.”

Tony laughed.  “That’s my peanut.  Takes after her Uncle Tony.  So much to do, so little time.”  Steve rolled his eyes a little and grinned into his cup.  “If it’s any consolation, I can’t decide either.  Actually, I’ve never really been there.”

Steve turned to appraise him in surprise.  “Really?”

Tony shrugged.  “I mean, I’ve _been_ there.  For stupid reasons.  Parties and premieres and having a good time.  Business, maybe, once or twice.  But not like this.”  His eyes glazed a little with thought and memory.  “Mom and Dad took me when I was ten or eleven.  It was one of the few times we ever did anything as a family.  All three of us.  And just the three of us.  No wait staff.  No assistants.  Jarvis didn’t even come.  It was…”  He gave a rueful smile.  “It was nice.”  Steve smiled, too.  It wasn’t hard to picture.  He could see it in Tony’s face practically, the recollections bright and sunny in his soft smile and open eyes.  Steve had seen photographs of Tony’s mother.  He could imagine her and little Tony and Howard Stark, his old friend happy for a moment instead of burdened by building SHIELD and running an empire in Stark Industries and losing what he’d lost in the war.  The three of them, simply enjoying the sun and fun together.

Tony gave a little chuckle.  He’d changed so much since Maria had been born nine months ago.  Miraculously, the time he’d spent as HYDRA’s prisoner, everything the STRIKE Team had done to him…  It had left physical scars, sure, and wounds that plagued him still.  His hands would never be what they were before the STRIKE Team had broken them, his strength and dexterity in his fingers coming and going in fits and spurts.  He tired more easily than he had, and it wasn’t just because he was getting older.  He was still inventing, of course, and still fighting as Iron Man, but everything that had happened, the long, dark months where he’d struggled alone to lead the Avengers and the injuries he’d suffered at the hands of Viper…  It had taken its toll on him.

But, in other ways, he’d never been so at peace.  Steve had never seen him this contented, this secure, this _sure_ of himself.  Of who _he_ was meant to be.  Long gone was the man who’d hated himself, who’d drank and partied seeking oblivion, who’d hid behind his obsessions, who’d been harsh and difficult to everyone who’d been around him.  Gone was the man, even, who’d been afraid to settle down, who’d been afraid to make mistakes or be hurt, who wasn’t sure he could be a good husband and father.  This new Tony wasn’t burdened by his past or the traumas he’d suffered.  This new Tony had scars, but they were skin deep, in a sense, never touching his soul.  And this new Tony loved his baby daughter like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.  Steve had never really had any doubts that Tony could be who he was meant to be, a good and decent man who was strong enough to lead by example and love without reserve, but now Tony could see it, too.  Ever since that moment when Sarah had come into his world and he and Tony had been shocked senseless and terrified and Tony had first confessed to him about Pepper’s miscarriage…  He’d known that Tony could be so much more than what he thought he was.  _“You taught me how to be a good father.”_ That warmed his heart, what Tony had told him once before when he’d really needed to hear it.  They were both that.  _Good fathers.  Good men._

Tony pulled himself from his own thoughts.  “Well, I hope you like it, Capsicle, because this’ll be the first of many trips.  I’m going to make sure Maria has tons of memories like that one I had.  Really good memories.  Nothing more important than that.”

Heartened, Steve nodded before returning to his breakfast.  “I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“And I guess it doesn’t matter what Sarah wants to do first.”

Steve lowered his fork.  _Oh, no._   Tony had that sneaky grin he always had again, that teasing smirk when he was up to no good.  “You didn’t.”  The inventor dove back into his breakfast with gusto, infinitely pleased with himself.  “You didn’t.  You did _not_ buy Disney World for a day!”

“Three days, actually.  Our whole trip.”  Steve sputtered on his coffee before giving his friend a light glare.  Tony balked.  “Hey, I had practical reasons!  First, I don’t want the press all over your kid or mine.  I mean, ever since Maria was born and you and Tash tied the knot, you know what it’s been like.  Actually, you’ve been a walking, talking trend on Twitter in one form or another since Sarah, well, since you came out of the ice.  So there’s the security aspect.   And Pepper still thinks she hasn’t lost the baby weight, which is complete BS but she doesn’t listen to me, and I think _your_ wife would probably kill you if a picture of her got leaked right now.  So there’s the self-preservation aspect as a second compellingly pragmatic reason.  And, third, Thor’s gonna have a hard enough time figuring all of this out.  Can you imagine him trying to deal with costumed characters walking around _and_ a crowd?  And…”  Steve didn’t believe his nonsense for a second.  “Okay, listen.  You have no idea how busy it is down there.  This way, Sarah gets to see _everything_ and do _everything_ and meet all the characters she loves and go on the rides she wants and have her little heart be so content and you’re not buying any of this.”

“Nope.”

“Okay, fine.  I hate lines.  There.  Tony Stark does not wait in lines.  And Thor is a prince.  He probably doesn’t even know what a line is unless it’s full of people waiting to serve him.”  Steve chuckled.  “So I bought the whole park for three days.  So sue me.”  Steve laughed.  “What?  Sorry, not sorry.  You have money.  I have money.  We have both had… a rough few years.  So I am spoiling our daughters.  If they want to be little princesses with a Magic Kingdom all to themselves for a few days, I’m getting it for them.  Got it?  And no lecture.”

Steve raised his hands in surrender, giving up on being indignant (or even teasing).  “No lecture.  Vacation, right?”

“Right.”

“Good morning, my brothers!”  _Speak of the devil._ Thor’s booming voice practically shook the kitchen as he came in.  Clint and Bruce were with him, debating about the differences between circuses and carnivals (what was the difference, at any rate?).  Thor, too, was dressed in khaki shorts and a shirt that said “DISNEY” on it that was about a size too small.  “Ah, the morning feast.”  He came in, acquired a plate from the cabinets, and promptly starting filling it.  He looked like a kid at Christmas.  “I must thank you, Steve, for preparing this delicious meal.  And so much of it!”

Tony opened his mouth to object, but Steve was faster.  “You’re welcome, Thor!  Try the pancakes.  I was up real early this morning making the batter, you know, picking the blueberries and grinding the sugar down.  Slaving away.  But cooking while the sun rises really adds joy and love to every bite, don’t you think?”

“Indeed.”

Steve smiled at Tony, cocking a coy eyebrow.  He could give as good as he got sometimes.  Natasha had been helping him with that.  “When are you guys leaving, anyway?” Clint said, and the ridiculous grin on his face suggested he’d won his argument with Bruce.  He, too, came over to breakfast bar and proceeded to overload his plate.  “I thought Mr. Wish-Upon-A-Star would have had you guys on the plane already.”

“Jane does not return until nine o’clock,” Thor proclaimed around a mouthful of eggs, “else we would have been gone already.  I must say that I am very anxious for this foray into the World of Disney, though it will likely take me some time to become acclimated to their unique customs.  These creatures seem rather cartoonish, so it will take some effort not to gawk at their strangeness.  I do hope I can provide a proper representation of my father’s realm when I meet them.  I have had much experience and learning in the art of courtly intrigue, so it should go well.  You often speak of princesses.  Tell me: will we get to meet their king? 

Everybody just stared at the demigod in disbelief.  Thor kept up his charade for a moment more before breaking into raucous laughter.  “You are still all so gullible,” he declared smugly.

Clint smacked Thor in the bicep as he went to his seat, but he ended up pulling his hand back and shaking the sting away.  “I liked it better when you knew nothing.”

“Where’s Tash, Steve?” Bruce asked. 

“Sleeping,” Steve answered.  “Baby kept her up.”

Bruce smiled, clearly pleased.  “Certainly is an active little thing.”  Not long after they’d gotten married, Natasha had begun feeling… _off_.  Sick and tired, with pounding headaches and very little energy.  Bruce had been monitoring Natasha closely for signs of the mental degeneration the other recipients of the TAHITI serum had suffered.  This had been another elongated period of holding breaths and silently hoping.  Bruce believed the introduction of the super soldier serum into the alien serum had completely erased the dangerous side effects, but of course there’d been no way to be certain.  Nothing like this had ever been attempted before, and considering that was the last of GH.325, it never would be again.  Bruce had been worried when Natasha had finally gone to him after a few weeks of not feeling right.  Steve had been absolutely terrified.  This had been immediately after the darkest hours of Bucky’s recovery, and the thought that there was something new that was wrong, that Natasha could be seriously ill, had nearly overwhelmed him with panic.  It was like everything had been going too well.  The thought that the alien serum was destroying her, failing, taking back what it had given…

Or it had been restoring far more than they’d ever imagined.  Project: TAHITI hadn’t just healed the deadly injuries Natasha had sustained.  It had healed _all of her._   They’d all been shocked beyond coherent thought when Bruce had performed an abdominal ultrasound to try and uncover the source of Natasha’s ailment.  Well, he’d uncovered it.  And suddenly something Natasha had always believed to be impossible had become a reality.  A wonderful, amazing, _incredible_ reality.  A dream.  Another miracle.

Steve couldn’t help but smile at the memory.  Natasha had gasped a sob after she’d finally digested the words – _you’re pregnant, Tash –_ and pulled Steve into a tender kiss.  _“At least you did it the normal way this time!”_

“Steve?”

“Huh?  What?”

Bruce smiled as Steve focused again.  “I was just saying that I told Natasha at her check-up yesterday that she needs to take it easy.  Walking around is okay but not all day and not without breaks.  If I know her, she’ll want to be with Sarah for every second of the trip, so it’s your job to make sure she doesn’t overdo it.”  Bruce had turned into something of a worrywart since becoming Natasha’s doctor.  It annoyed her to no end, but frankly Steve was okay with it.  He felt truly blessed with both Sarah and Natasha, so he didn’t mind at all having someone with Bruce’s level of intellect and attention to detail looking after them.  Of course, there was the scientific aspect of it.  Bruce was extremely interested in comparing Sarah’s genetic make-up with the baby’s when he or she was born.  It would answer a great deal of questions they still had about how Sarah had been created and maybe how much of her was Viper.

 _None._   Not really, anyway.  The genes didn’t matter.  Love did.  Viper had never understood that.  He still thought about her now and again.  That fire of his anger and hate, once so focused and powerful, had long quieted, and in its place was simple pity.  She’d died jealous and envious and _alone_.  Her great-grandfather gone.  Her slave freed.  Her men retreating.  Her dreams disappearing all around her.  The man she’d wanted in love with someone else.  And her daughter untouchable.  Steve had made his peace with it all.  She hadn’t gotten what she’d wanted.  She hadn’t taken him, hadn’t taken Sarah.  Hadn’t killed Natasha.  In the end, everything she’d done…  Well, in a way, if she hadn’t taken his DNA six years ago, he wouldn’t be where he was now.  So, as surprising as it was, when he thought of her…  He was almost thankful.

There was the sound of soft voices down the hall.  Steve turned in his seat just in time to see Sarah let go of Bucky’s hand and come running.  All the men around the breakfast bar turned, calling to her with joy in their eyes, as she bounded closer.  Bucky had dressed her in a pair of jeans and a pretty purple top.  He’d even braided her hair (apparently he was significantly more skilled at that than Steve was.  It must have been memories from their childhood, when he’d braided his sisters’ hair for them back in Brooklyn).  “Pancakes!  Yummy!”

Clint swooped her up and sat her on his lap.  Bruce was already making her a plate of all her favorites, and he set it in front of her.  And Tony was reaching across the breakfast bar.  “High five, squirt!”  She smacked his hand loudly, grinning around her first mouthful of pancakes.  “You ready for our awesome adventure?”

“Yeah!”

Tony grinned.  “Alright!  Did you decide what you want to do first?”

“Space Mountain!” Sarah said, again with her mouth full.

“Sarah,” Steve admonished.  “Chew then swallow then talk.”  She flushed, clasping her hands over her mouth but the edges of her smile were visible around her fingers.

“Sounds fun, honey,” Bruce said.  He reached over to lay his hand fondly on Sarah’s head.  “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

“You know, it’s not too late,” Tony declared.  He appraised his friend with a hopeful look on his face.  “You guys can still come.  Loads of room.  I mean, an entire resort full.  You’re really welcome.”  There was nothing perfunctory or forced about that.  He genuinely wanted the entire team with them.  “Come on.  It’ll be fun.”

Bruce gave a sad smile.  “I’d love to, but I have work to do.  They want my paper on neutron collisions next week, and I have a ton more to do on it before it’s ready.”  Steve knew how excited Bruce was about this project; MIT had invited him to guest lecture on his newest work, and that had been such a huge boost to his ego given how hated he’d been mere months ago.  “Next time, huh?”

Tony was aware of how important this was to Bruce, too, but he still frowned sadly.  Unwilling to completely admit defeat, he tried again.  “What about you, feathers?”

Clint bounced Sarah on his lap a little, making a show of thinking about it.  Then he wrinkled his nose a little.  “I would be fun,” he said, tickling Sarah, “but Barnes and I have plans.”

Steve turned around to appraise Bucky where he still lingered near the entrance of the kitchen.  Bucky glanced hesitantly among the Avengers, face pinched in a worried frown.  This happened sometimes, where Bucky lost his confidence that it was alright (or that he was worthy or some such nonsense) to be a part of their family.  It was crazy and silly and completely irrational, and a little prodding or coaxing usually did the trick (although it hadn’t regarding this trip.  Short of begging on his hands and knees, Steve had done everything and anything to try and convince Bucky to come with them, but Bucky had refused.  It was always some excuse: it wasn’t safe for him to be in public or Steve should spend time with Stark and Sarah and Natasha or he had no idea was Disney even was so there was no reason to go or this really wasn’t his scene.  Truth be told, Steve thought it was much simpler than that: he didn’t feel he was good enough, _pure enough_ , to be part of the fun).  Warily Bucky’s eyes flicked over the group, so Steve stood and gestured for Bucky to come over.  “Buck, come take my spot.  I’m done.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” Bucky said with an uncertain smile.  “I already ate.”

Tony rolled his eyes a little.  “Sure you did.  Come on.  Sit.”

Bucky was doubtful a moment more, and everyone watched, waiting patiently.  Again, this was a moment where the team surprised him with how much they cared, how completely they had welcomed Bucky into their midst despite everything.  Sensing that openness, Bucky’s stiff posture slowly relaxed, and he walked over.  He sat in Steve’s chair, and Tony clasped his shoulder.  Physical touch was still a difficult subject at time for Bucky, but it was getting better.  He hardly flinched now.  And Thor filled a plate for him.  Bruce got him cup of coffee.  “So what’s this man-date you two are having then?” the physicist asked with a teasing smirk.

Clint offered a grin, cutting another pancake up for Sarah.  “Not much.  Helping Ward out with something.”  Tony cocked an eyebrow in surprise.  “Helping teach the sharpshooting class.  You know, Coulson asked me to do it, but I had to be honest that I might not be the best sniper in the world at the moment.  Which was hard for me to admit.”  He gave Steve a wink.  “At the very least, it deserves to be tested.  In a contest.  I’m old-fashioned like that.”

Steve had to smile.  “Really?  You two are duking it out in front of the recruits?”  Bucky actually blushed, pushing his shoulder length behind his ear, as he tucked into his breakfast.  “Sad I’m gonna miss that.”

“What’s that mean, Daddy?” Sarah asked, reaching for her cup of juice.  “Duking it out?”

“It’s means that Uncle Bucky and Uncle Clint are going to see who’s better,” Bruce smartly explained, “presumably by doing target practice.”  Sarah didn’t know what that meant really either in all likelihood, but she didn’t question further.  Bruce donned a teasing smile.  “Like children.”

Thor laughed.  “Hardly.  We often have such competitions on Asgard.”

“And I’m sure they’re about as mature,” Bruce quipped.  “How much money is riding on this little contest?”

Clint tried to keep a straight face a moment, tried, even, to seem shocked at the implication.  It didn’t last.  “A few hundred.”  He gave a sneaky grin and sipped his orange juice.  “And a few dozen people watching.  So no pressure, Bucky.”

Bucky stopped eating, and for a moment, Steve worried Clint really had spooked him.  His moods were still unpredictable at times, and he could switch from sullen and withdrawn to confrontational very quickly.  Although less common, he yet suffered flashbacks as well, particularly in relation to fighting (the team had all put a great deal of effort into keeping the violence of their lives separated from what went on at home in the Tower, both for the sake of the children and for Bucky).  This was a process, Steve had to keep reminding himself.  Like everything else, it was taking time, time for Bucky to heal.  In some ways, his wounds were lasting the longest.  It was difficult to come to terms with the fact that the Bucky he’d known and loved from his youth was gone completely.  That much was clear, no matter how much Steve tried to convince himself otherwise.  This new Bucky was an amalgamation of that man Steve had loved as his brother and the Winter Soldier, and he was still discovering himself.  This Bucky everyone was still figuring out, including himself.

Yet, much like the new Tony, this new Bucky was a good and decent man, capable of leading by example and loving without reserve.  So he only smiled a bit of a sneaky smile, one that took Steve way back to stickball in alleyways and the smell of Bucky’s mother’s cooking and his own mother’s warm, weathered hands.  “No pressure.  I can kick your…”  He stopped himself and glanced at Sarah.  His lips twisted into a smile.  “I can beat you, Barton.  I was a pretty good sniper before everything else, wasn’t I, Steve?”

Steve nodded.  “You were, Buck.”

“So let’s do it.”  His grin turned slier, and he winked at Sarah.  “Uncle Bucky has to prove he can be an Avenger.”  Sarah smiled.  “Be the hero, like all your stories, right, baby?”

Something inside Steve swelled with pride at that.  He set his hand on Bucky’s shoulder.  “You don’t have to prove anything.”

Bucky smiled, looking around the table, at Bruce and Thor, at Tony.  At Clint.  He nodded a little.  “Yeah…  But I want to.”  His gaze settled back on Sarah, and his smile softened.  “I have a new life.  Gotta earn my stripes.”

“Project: Rebirth?” Tony said with a smile.

Bucky laughed lightly.  It was so good to hear it.  “Something like that.  So go on.  Have a good time.  Nothing to worry about here.”

“Not a thing,” Clint agreed.  He kissed Sarah’s head.  “It’s all good.”

Bucky turned around and grinned at Steve, reaching up to grasp his forearm in a firm, affectionate grip, and Steve felt that thing inside throb with relief and joy.  _It’s all good.  It really, really is._

* * *

The flight down to Florida seemed to last forever, a forever filled with pain and suffering.  The good, exaggerated kind, though.  Being trapped anywhere with an over-excited five-year-old, a baby, said baby’s equally over-excited father, and a loud and over-excited demigod could make anything feel like torture.  Somehow, though, they managed to make it down to Orlando in one piece with Steve’s sanity mostly intact.  Mostly.  Natasha, as always, was a wellspring of calm and cool composure, reining Sarah in when she got too wound up.  Jane and Pepper, too, were working to keep their respective men serene for the duration of the flight and the limo ride to the resort.  If anyone had seen the world’s richest man and the crown prince of Asgard excitedly blabbering about amusement park rides like they were children themselves, Steve was sure the entirety of the Avengers would never live it down.

They reached their hotel, which was empty of guests (of course) save for them.  The wait staff was there to greet them (including quite a few young women dressed as princesses – Sarah squealed with excitement and ran to embrace them).  Steve simply grimaced and wondered how much money this was costing Tony before Tony told him to give it a rest and stop worrying with all his “Golden generation frugality” and enjoy this vacation on which he’d spent a small fortune.  Steve tried and found it wasn’t hard, not with Sarah going on a mile a minute to one of the girls dressed in a yellow ball gown (the actual Belle – telling her how they’d name their dog after her and she was so brave and strong and amazing).  And little Maria, toddling just barely with Pepper holding her hand, went to look at another of the girls (Ariel, Steve thought).  And Jane, who was practically in tears with joy at having a lifelong dream come true.  Like a little girl she stared in awe at the princesses and the princess-themed resort and Thor could only tease her that he lived in an _actual_ palace and this was what reduced her to such an emotional wreck.  She smacked him, and Steve laughed.

After that, they each went to their separate rooms (rooms bigger than their suites in the Tower – this was ridiculous) to unpack and get ready to start the fun.  Steve helped Sarah with her suitcase while Natasha took care of their things.  If the little girl been wild before, now she was practically unhinged, running around and singing and pumped so full of exuberance and energy that Steve’s head was pounding.  He finally wrangled her and made her sit still while he helped her change into some cooler clothes.  “Are we going soon, Daddy?” she gasped as he laced her shoes.  “Huh?  Are we?  Do we have to go far?  What can we do first?”

“Sarah,” Steve gasped in exasperation.  She stared at him, eyes so bright that it was almost impossible now to remember the shadows that had once haunted them.  There were long gone like they’d never been there at all.  It was impossible to stay irate at her, given everything they’d gone through together.  This, seeing her so happy and carefree, the horrors she’d experienced far, _far_ behind her…

She grinned, confused at his staring, squirming in his steadying hands.  “What, Dad?”

Steve broke from his thoughts and smiled.  “Nothing, baby girl.”  He poked her nose a little, and she giggled and squirmed more.  “Just really happy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”  He smoothed her cotton shirt down.  “Didn’t think we’d ever get here.  When we were all alone and scared and everything was hard.  Didn’t think we’d make it here, and we have, so that makes me happy.  We’re home.”

She laughed, poking him in the nose this time.  “You’re silly, Daddy.  We’re not home.”

He tugged her close and held her tight.  “Sure we are.”  He rubbed a hand down her back, breathing deeply, letting himself feel everything.  “We got through it all together, didn’t we?  And that’ll always be the same.  Whatever’s going to happen, we’re always in it together.  You and me.”

“And Mommy,” Sarah added smartly.

Chuckling, Steve pulled away and nodded.  “Yeah.  And mommy.  And the new baby.”  _And Tony and Bucky and Clint.  And Thor and Bruce.  And our friends and allies.  We’re never going to be alone again._

There was a knock at the door of their suite, and Sarah sprinted out of her bedroom to go get it.  Steve heard Thor’s voice.  Quickly he finished tidying up Sarah’s things and headed out to greet their friends.  Thor already had Sarah on his shoulders, and Jane was there with them, chatting excitedly about their afternoon ahead.  “We can take her for a little bit if Natasha needs to rest,” Jane offered.  She’d changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top.  Steve had never seen her so relaxed.  “It’s not a problem.”

Steve nodded, grateful.  Natasha had looked a bit tired when they’d arrived.  “Let me check if she wants to.  Just a second.”  He left them in the expansive living room and headed to the master suite.

Natasha was coming out of the bathroom as he came in.  “Hey,” she greeted.

“Hi.”  It was harder to say more than that.  His brain had fairly well derailed given how beautiful the woman before him was.  There were times when Steve couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have someone as gorgeous as Natasha want him.  And there were times he couldn’t fathom how he couldn’t have seen just how amazing she was before, when she’d only been a friend and teammate rather than the woman he loved.  Of course he’d always thought she was beautiful, but there was so much _more_ to it.  Like here and now.  Like the way she glowed with something he’d never quite seen before, the proverbial light of pregnancy but something even more wondrous than that.  _Life._ The swell of her stomach was very noticeable now, and her skin was vibrant and her eyes were light.  This was the “good” part of pregnancy, Pepper joked, the second trimester where the morning sickness was gone but you weren’t so large that you were uncomfortable.  Natasha was _gliding_ with it, and every movement she made had so much grace.  _Dancing._ She was dressed in a cotton sundress that flowed around her, her hair thick and lush where it curled around her face and her make-up light and clean and immaculate.  She was so stunning, so _perfect_ like this, that it was hard to think she’d ever been a hardened assassin.  It was hard to remember the days when she’d feared and resented Sarah in Steve’s life because of what she symbolized: something she could never have.  She had it now in spades, and Steve felt like it he was witnessing a blessing come to life.

She sat at the room’s vanity, the antique feel of it right out of a castle or something, and finished up by putting on a bit more lipstick.  Steve stared.  He couldn’t help it.  She caught his gaze in the mirror and grinned.  “Are you ready?”

“Um, sure?”  She chuckled, finishing with that before reaching into the little jewelry case she’d brought.  She pulled out something silver and flat.  His dog tags.  He found his feet beneath him again and made his way over, dropping to a crouch beside her as she put the chain around her neck.  “You’re gonna wear those?”

“Sarah wanted me to.”  She tucked them down into her dress.  They were a bit ungainly and clunky, not the sort of jewelry that went with her pretty, floral frock.  “She was worried they’d get lost.”  Sarah still had her anxieties, despite how much progress she’d made.  The fear of losing her father’s dog tags that she’d given to Natasha, of losing _Natasha_ herself, chief among them.  There’d been no hesitation at all in Sarah accepting Natasha as her mother.  Steve hadn’t been very worried about it, not with the way Sarah looked up to and loved her, but he’d been relieved all the same.  Those terrible moments where Natasha, newly healed by TAHITI, had protected Sarah from Viper during the siege of the Tower had bonded them together even tighter.  It was a nightmarish blur to her now, but that connection that had begun in Oregon had been strengthened immeasurably so.  “Truth be told, though, I think she just wants everyone to know I’m hers.  And yours.”  She gave a little grin, and her hands dropped to the swell of her stomach.  “As if this wasn’t evidence enough.”

Steve hummed appreciatively to that, scooching closer on his knees to kiss her belly.  She slipped her fingers through his hair when he lowered his face to her lap.  “Baby quiet down?” he asked.

“No.  Never.”  She pretended that it was a bother, but he saw right through it.  One of the reasons she was glowing so vibrantly was because she loved this, loved being pregnant in a way he’d never anticipated (not that he’d anticipated any of it, but still).  The first time she’d felt the baby kick a couple of weeks ago, she’d dragged him out of a meeting with Coulson and Fury just to feel it.  The look on her face…  He’d remember it forever.  “Probably anxious to get going.”

Steve hummed again and took her left hand, pulling it from his cheek to his lips.  Her engagement and wedding rings caught the light, and he stared a moment.  It was a much nicer ring, the most beautiful he could find.  Purchased on Captain America’s salary, which was substantially more than anything he could have afforded on the run.  The diamond glittered, and he rubbed his thumb over it.  “I love you,” he murmured.

“You do?” she joked.  He could tell by her overly casual tone that she was trying to keep her emotions in check.  She couldn’t hide things like that from him anymore.  “Really?”

“Yeah.  More than I can tell you.”

He felt her smile.  She cupped his jaw and lifted his face, catching his lips in a deep kiss.  They lingered in that, basking in the closeness, the completion, until they heard, “Daddy, are you coming?  Let’s go!”

“So much for Thor and Jane distracting her for a while,” Steve murmured against Natasha’s lips.

“Your daughter?  Never.”  Steve laughed and stood to help her to her feet.  She gave him a withering glare that wasn’t entirely facetious.  “And don’t you start in with me needing to take it easy.  I feel great.  And I’m glad to be away from Dr. Worries-Too-Much.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him you call him that.”

“Be my guest.  Now come on.  You’re not the only one who’s never been here.”

So off they went.  They met Tony, Pepper, and Maria in the lobby.  Little Maria’s head full of auburn curls was hidden under a sunhat, and she had a precious little cotton romper on with eyelets on its hems.  She had Tony’s brown eyes, and they immediately twinkled with recognition from the strollers.  She squirmed until her father got her out and handed her to Steve.  Maria cooed at him, and Tony cooed back at her, beaming with pride.  Steve glanced at Natasha’s stomach and felt a tingle of excitement that had nothing to do with Disney World or their vacation.

The day was warm and bright.  They found their way into the Magic Kingdom, where a slew of characters were ready to meet Captain America’s daughter.  Sarah (and Jane, though she was still trying not to show it) were positively thrilled.  They walked through the park, and Steve had to admit (though not to Tony – this was another thing he’d never live down) that it was nice there was no one there.  They got on all the rides instantly.  Tony, Thor, and Steve took Sarah on Space Mountain and Splash Mountain and the other rollercoasters.  They did them again and again, and she had a blast, laughing and laughing, pulling everyone along from attraction to attraction.  Natasha and Pepper stayed back mostly, sitting on benches under trees and around flower beds, chatting about motherhood of all things and tending to Maria.  After riding It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean (“they made those movies from _this_?” Tony said about a dozen times), they had dinner at one of the restaurants.  Salads and burgers and other such fare (all gourmet, of course) were consumed (likely in excess, though the wait staff seemed flabbergasted at the amount both Steve and Thor devoured).  Sarah sat on Steve’s lap on the veranda, eating a hot dog and fries, and went on and on about all the fun they’d had that day.  Natasha was next to them, eyes bright in the dying daylight, laughing with Jane and Pepper without a care in the world.  And Thor and Tony were debating the merits of piracy (apparently they had no such thing on Asgard, which Tony found difficult to believe).  His meal finished, Steve sat and watched them all, watched his wife smile and laugh with Pepper and watched his friends bicker, listened to his daughter recount all the excitement with Jane, saw little Maria sleep peacefully in her mother’s arms.  _Home._

Later on, after another round of rides and ice cream and cotton candy and Mickey Mouse ears for everyone, it was getting dark.  There was a parade (a parade!) right around the castle of the Magic Kingdom, filled with Disney characters and lights and princesses and heroes.  Tired from all the walking and excitement, they sat and watched.  Sarah rested on Steve’s lap again, ooing and ahhing and pointing out all her favorite things.  Steve had never seen her so happy.  Natasha leaned into his side, a bit sleepy, an arm around the swell of her stomach.  She lifted Steve’s hand and placed it just where he could feel the baby kick, and Sarah leaned over to feel, too, more thrilled about that than the spectacle in front of her.  And after the parade, when the sky was dark save for the first stars of a beautiful evening, fireworks started over the top of the castle.  Everyone stood to watch the amazing display.  Steve hoisted Sarah up on his shoulders, and she pointed and stared, awe on her face.  “It’s like they’re just for us, Daddy!”

“Sure are, baby girl,” Steve agreed, entranced himself.

“So you gotta give me some credit.”  Tony came to stand beside him, Maria up against his shoulder.  He cradled her close.  It was a little chillier now with the sun down, so she had a little blanket wrapped around her.  “This is pretty cool, right?”

Steve smiled and turned to appraise him.  “Yeah.  You did good, Tony.”

“Well,” Tony corrected with a smirk.

Steve rolled his eyes.  “Well.”

“And we have another day of adventure tomorrow,” Thor said contentedly, hands on his hips.  It was almost ridiculous, just how much he’d enjoyed himself.  “I would like to see the marionettes sing their jolly songs again.”

“That’s the beauty of _buying_ the park for a day,” Tony declared.  “We can do whatever we want.  And this is only one section.  We still have tons of other places to see and a water park to go to and an animal safari and Epcot and–”

Steve could practically feel Sarah getting a second wind.  “Not tonight,” he warned gently.  “This then bed.”

Tony shook his head in an exaggerated show of irritation.  “What a party pooper, huh, Sarah?”

Thor looked confused for a moment at the expression, and Steve practically held his breath waiting for the inevitable nonsense to start.  There was no way this wouldn’t be crude or embarrassing.  “I fail to see how our dear captain has soiled our gathering with–”

 _“Thor.”_ Both Thor and Tony laughed, and Steve rolled his eyes again.

Ahead, Jane enthusiastically waved for Thor to come closer.  “My fair lady beckons me,” he said proudly.  He left to join the others a little closer to the castle.

The fireworks thundered overhead.  Steve and Tony stood in silence a moment, watching the crackle of colors.  Steve took a deep breath of the cool evening air, relaxed in a way he couldn’t ever remember feeling.  “Thanks, Tony.”

“I already told you.  The money doesn’t matter.  Our girls are worth it.”

“No, not just for this.”  Steve turned a little, setting Sarah down gently.  He couldn’t find the words he wanted to say at first.  His heart was too full, his mind hazy with good cheer and so much emotion.  But then it came to him.  “Thanks for… for taking me in when I had nothing in this world.  For trusting me to lead the team.  For giving me everything I have now.  For doing everything you’ve done for me.  Standing by me.  Telling me what I needed to hear when I needed to hear it and even when I didn’t want to hear it.  Kicking me in the butt when I needed that, too.”  Tony chuckled a little.   “And helping me figure it all out.  Protecting me.  You even saw what I have with Nat before I did.”  Steve lost his nerve, his heart pounding with how inadequate it all felt given what Tony meant to him.  He swallowed a lump in his throat, feeling stupid and silly, and blinked the wetness from his eyes.  “Thanks for letting me be your friend.”

Tony didn’t say anything to that for a bit.  At first, Steve thought maybe he’d overstepped his bounds.  But then the other man grabbed him with his free arm and drew him into a hearty hug.  “Steve, you never have to thank me for that.  _Never._ ”  Steve held tight, closing his eyes a moment, so very glad and grateful.  “This is the good life, right?  Good memories for them to have.  Our life.”

He squeezed Tony tighter.  “Right.”

Sarah started tugging at Tony’s hand a moment later, and both men pulled away, sniffling and blushing and stupidly grateful it was dark to hide the color on their cheeks and the glimmer in their eyes.  “What’s up, honey bunch?” Tony asked.

Apparently Sarah felt the need to pay her respects, too.  “Thank you, Uncle Tony!”

Tony grinned, holding Maria tighter as he leaned down to kiss Sarah’s head.  “You’re very welcome.”

Sarah beamed.  “What time’s the princess party tomorrow?”

Steve’s brow furrowed in confusion, and he regarded his friend worriedly.  He hadn’t heard anything about this.  “Princess party?”

Tony flushed again.  And winced.  It was even more noticeable now.  “Yeah, so, you know, this morning?  When I was making you breakfast?  Because I’m a nice guy?”  _Uh-oh.  I knew it._ “I kinda signed the girls up for this princess party thing when I booked all this.  You know, tea and cakes and make-up and singing.  The works.  In a ballroom.  And dancing!  All the girls.”  Steve didn’t like where this was going.  “But, you know, that was before I knew Thor was coming with us.  And there’s a breakfast event some of the managers are throwing for us, and we thought we should represent.  The team, that is.  Thor and me.  And it’s at the same time.”

“Tony…”

“What?  Thor doesn’t look good in pink.  And I don’t look good in pink.  But you…  You look good in everything.  Your wife says so.  And you love me, right?  That’s what you just said.  I think all that mushy stuff all boiled down to that: you love me.  And you owe me!  So you can be their date to the party.”  Tony had the audacity to pat him on his shoulder.  “Think of how lucky and special you are.  All those beautiful girls, escorted to the princess party by Captain America.  That’s an _honor_.  Really.”

“Tony!”

“Gotta run!  Baby needs a bottle!”  And he took off, laughing all the way, to his wife.

Natasha was coming toward him as Tony ran past, and she couldn’t help but laugh in confusion.  “What was that all about?” she asked when she reached his side.

Steve sighed heavily, looking down at his eager, excited daughter, who was not one bit tired despite all that they’d done that day, who was practicing her ballet for the princess dance or whatever.  Then he laughed incredulously.  “I think I just got conned.”

“You think?” Natasha said with a smirk.  A particularly loud boom shook the park, and they all looked up at the purple twinkles it left behind.  Natasha leaned into his side again, Sarah stopping her playing to take her hand and tuck up against them both.  “It’s okay, though.  It’s good practice.”

“Yeah,” Steve grumbled, wincing himself at the thought of all the pink and purple and lace and chiffon and ball dances and tea parties and…  _So much pink._ He shook his head with another dopey grin.  “Yeah.”

“And you should get used to being outnumbered because it’s only going to get worse.”

Steve turned to her, confused at that, but she had that smile again, the sly one, the teasing one.  She leaned in to kiss him, holding him tight as the sky exploded with light and color.  She pulled away, putting his hand on her belly again for just a moment, and gave a little nod, confirming what he was only now figuring out.  When she’d gone to see Bruce before they’d left…  She’d found out.  “Come on, Sarah.”  She reached her hand to their daughter.  “Let’s fine some more ice cream.”

“Chocolate?”

“Is there any other kind?”

They walked off together, Natasha glancing over her shoulder once more with an excited grin.  Steve watched, stupefied, and then grinned himself.  And grinned.  _And grinned._

They were having a baby girl.

_I can’t wait to meet her._

* * *

 

_Four months later_

“One more push, Natasha!  You can do it!”

“Almost there, Nat…”

“Come on.  Let’s try again.”

“She’s almost here!”

“Push, Nat!”

_New life._

It was the most incredible thing Steve had ever witnessed, and he’d seen some pretty incredible things.  This…  Nothing else could compare.  Nothing ever would.

And nothing would ever compare to the way his heart ached now.  It was such a good ache, so much happiness and excitement and relief and love.  This moment where his newborn daughter took her first breaths and cried.  This moment where he kissed his wife as she shuddered through soft, gasping sobs of joy.  The moment where Bruce brought the tiny, pink bundle to them.  The moment where he saw his child’s face for the first time.

The moment where he went to tell their family.  Everyone was staring at him as he stepped into the waiting room of the Tower’s medical ward.  Jane and Thor.  Clint.  Tony and Pepper, Maria in Pepper’s arms.  And Bucky and Sarah.  “She’s here,” he said, wiping a couple wayward tears from his cheeks and grinning so hard he felt like his face would crack.  “Mom and baby are fine.”

There was so much after that.  Laughing.  Congratulations.  Bear hugs and manly tears and not so manly tears, too.  Talk of feasts and plans to teach this kid archery and promises to buy her anything and everything her heart desired.  Promises to protect her no matter what.  They went into Natasha’s room together, everyone, _all of them_ , to see her.

Natasha had the baby cradled to her chest.  She was tiny, precious.  Perfect.  “Come meet Jamie,” she said to the crowd.

Bucky stopped, pale and wide-eyed, turning to stare at Steve.  “What?”

Steve gave half a shrug and a little grin.  He couldn’t help but tease.  “Jamie Antonia Rogers.  You didn’t catch that?  Coulda sworn I mentioned it.”  He hadn’t.  He hadn’t just to see this.

And it was perfect.  Bucky’s eyes widened even further.  He seemed frozen in place, and Steve would live the rest of his life and he’d never forget the look of surprise melting into elation on his friend’s face.  Tony grasped Bucky’s shoulder.  He was trying not to lose it completely with how touched he was, too, how _happy_ , but he was failing.  His voice shook, and he couldn’t stop smiling.  “You’re officially in the family now, Barnes.”

“Indeed,” Thor said, laughing.  “That is quite an honor.”

Clint gave Bucky a playful nudge.  Then he walked over to give Natasha a kiss.  “I call dibs on the next name.”

“Let me recover from this one first, please,” she quipped.  She was stunning, even as sweaty and tired as she was.  Stunning and glowing and happy.

The baby gurgled softly, and Clint cupped her tiny head.  “She’s beautiful,” he said, breathless and surprised.  “She’s…  She’s _you_.”

“That’s what I said,” Bruce added proudly from the other side of the bed where he was finishing up with his work.  _Me too_ , Steve thought.  Jamie really did look like her mother.  She had Natasha’s red hair and pert nose and plump lips.  Steve watched Clint marvel over Jamie, watched Bucky peer closer and Tony do the same, watched Thor come around the other side, too.  The Avengers.  _Their family._

“Can I see, Daddy?”  Sarah’s soft call jolted Steve from his thoughts.  He felt the fool for forgetting Sarah amidst everyone else, and he immediately picked her up.  Tony moved out of the way, smiling like crazy, and Steve carried Sarah closer.  Sarah’s eyes went wide as he settled her carefully on the bed next to Natasha.  She smiled now, reaching tentative hands to her sister.  She looked to her mother.  “Can I hold her?”

Natasha nodded, sitting up a little with some help from Clint.  She handed Jamie carefully to Steve, and he sat behind Sarah before laying the baby in Sarah’s small arms.  He kept an arm around her, helping her support the precious bundle.  “Wow,” Sarah breathed.  “Daddy!”

“What, baby girl?”

“She’s my sister!”  Steve glanced up at Bucky at smiled.  Bucky smiled back.  “I have a sister!”  Natasha swept her hand through Sarah’s hair as she stared and cooed.  “She’s so little.”

“Yeah,” Steve said softly.  He reached out and rubbed a finger carefully down the baby’s cheek.  “You were like this once.”

Sarah turned to look at her father.  “I was?”

Steve nodded.  “Yeah.”  He could remember it.  A little bundle on a table, surrounded by strangers and uncertainty.  A mystery.  A moment in his life where everything had changed.  He felt it all again, his own fear and confusion and…  And _love_.  It had been just as instant then as it was now.  Love for his child, no matter who she was or how she’d come to be.  _His children._   “You were perfect, just like this.”

“And you were truly a blessing come to us,” Thor said, laying his hand on Sarah’s head.  Sarah smiled, proud of herself even if she didn’t quite understand the depth of that.  The breadth and meaning.  It was true.  They were the Avengers then, teammates and new friends, but they were more now.  So much more.  Their lives would have been so vastly different had Coulson’s team not found that newborn baby in the lab almost six years ago.  Sarah had touched them all, taught them all.  She’d given them purpose, turned them from a team into a family.  And she’d shown Steve what it meant to feel those things he felt then and now.  Love and sacrifice.  Certainty.

_The roads I took.  The choices I made._

So many moments.  So many more that would become wonderful memories, the substance of who he was now and who he would become tomorrow.

So much _life._

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> And that concludes _One Life_ on a very happy, very fluffy note :-). It took a year and a half and just about 300k words to complete. This was a different take from most the other things I have written, but it's been an enjoyable experience despite being a challenge at times, one that I am glad all of you have shared with me. You all have my deepest gratitude for your patience, my loyal readers, and for leaving comments and kudos as you have. Thank you for going on this journey with me. Extra special thanks to faith2nyc and korvik93 for so much support and encouragement. I can't ever express how much I appreciate it.
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](http://thegraytigress.tumblr.com)!


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